Looking back on it at Qin Piao's house, in Fang Lin's dorm room, he had seen this object before and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
A touch of embarrassment arose because he truly had never seen this thing before, which had caused such a fuss. Then he thought about why Qin Piao always laughed, and couldn't help but shiver with great excitement.
Luo Yang stared fixedly at the plastic bag tied around his finger, pondering to himself, "She must have bought this. Insisting it's mine, why would she give it to me? Could she be..."
As he thought about it, he felt his body temperature rapidly rising, even experiencing some physical reactions.
Lying in bed, he pondered about renting the land. He had initially gotten to know Xia Yun, and the next step was to further narrow the gap between them, which was especially crucial.
He had planned to immediately invite her to dinner the next day, but then thought, given her smartness and capability, moving too quickly would make her see through any faults, which might backfire and turn good things bad. Being too anxious could easily give the game away.
As the saying goes, haste does not bring success; he could only wait another couple of days, and then seek another opportunity to interact with her, making it appear more natural.
In the past few days, busy dealing with Xie Dongyang, he hadn't properly studied the Shennong Scripture. Now with some free time, he introspectively viewed the Shennong Scripture in his mind, which contained extremely rich knowledge on agriculture and medicine, from breeding to planting, from medical arts to making medicines, and even included aspects of mental cultivation and physical training, truly encompassing everything.
Flipping through it page by page, he saw endless extensive knowledge. The thick volume was at least 20 centimeters thick; to finish it, he would need at least a week.
After flipping through a few pages, Luo Yang directly went to the last page, where he saw a landscape painting that was extremely lifelike. Suddenly, as if he were actually in the scene, he even felt a few splashes of water mist hit his face.
"It would be great if I could travel there!"
With that thought, he felt a slight daze in his spirit, and his physical body actually entered the painting!
This scare was no small matter. Luo Yang screamed, and the echo resounded through the valley, clearly audible. Looking around, there was no one, just pleasing mountains and waters, truly a blessed place.
"Am I dreaming?"
Just as he was thinking about how to get out, his mind momentarily lapsed again, and he found himself still lying in bed, not standing in front of a waterfall.
"How could this be?"
Then, he stared at the landscape painting again, and after a short while, he entered the painting again!
Having had the experience from before, this time Luo Yang was not as scared, but a bit nervous, he tried thinking "I want to get out" in his mind. It really worked!
After two trials, he had roughly figured out the tricks, understood how to enter and leave the landscape painting. Repeatedly practicing entering and exiting, becoming proficient and no longer fearing being trapped inside, he then entered the painting again.
Standing in front of the waterfall, the breeze against his face, breathing the fresh air, he felt carefree and happy.
Looking up at the sky, it was as blue as a piece of clear glass, with strands of clouds leisurely floating by. Looking down at his feet at the stream, the water was clear enough to see the bottom. Small fish in the water played carefree, and unknown little colorful plants adorned the stream, a sight too beautiful to absorb in one glance.
The spot where Luo Yang stood was right beside a pool, in front of which was a waterfall plunging straight down three thousand feet. He couldn't see the top, nor could he tell how tall the mountain was, only seeing the mountain peak lost in the clouds.
Looking closely at the waterfall, he vaguely saw what seemed to be a cave behind the water curtain, and to enter the cave, one would need to swim across the pond.
The pond was extremely deep, with no visible bottom, though occasionally he could see carp moving about.
This was a mysterious world; even standing on the ground, Luo Yang had to frequently turn his head to survey his surroundings, lest a monster or wild man suddenly appeared, allowing him time to escape.
Luo Yang was familiar with water, so swimming across the pool was not difficult for him. He only worried about what terrifying creatures might lurk within, such as a millennia-old fish. If he did encounter one, his life would not be spared.
Moreover, whether a thousand-year-old demon inhabited the cave remained uncertain. If he inadvertently offered himself up, being eaten by the demon would be considered an explosion of bad luck accumulated over three lifetimes, dying without regrets.
However, Luo Yang was full of hope for life, had never been on an airplane, nor had he ever driven a Rolls-Royce. He did not want to meet King Yanluo for no reason.
After careful consideration, he decided it was best to be cautious. He lingered near the creek, which was quite pleasant; there was no need to seek out thrills, considering curiosity could kill the cat.
The area was covered with dense forests and towering ancient trees. He did not know what type of trees they were, only seeing their trunks standing tall, reaching into the clouds. It was impossible to see through the dense forest to know what lay inside and what might be beyond it.
Since he was in an unfamiliar environment, even though Luo Yang was exceptionally brave, he couldn't overcome the continuous warnings ringing in his mind: Don't wander off, what if he encountered a monster or wild beast?
Hesitating, he squatted by the creek side to watch the small fish in the water chase each other merrily. Luo Yang envied their carefree way of life.
"The water is so clear!"
As he thought this, he reached out to scoop some water to drink but suddenly realized that this water from the mysterious world might not be suitable for him to drink.
With this concern, he retracted his hand. Yet, since the small fish in the water were unharmed, he figured touching the creek water should be fine. If anything happened, it would likely only affect his skin.
Deciding this, he carefully touched the surface of the creek water with the tip of his index finger, even lighter and faster than a dragonfly skimming the surface, touching it briefly then pulling away. He inspected his finger, saw no skin corrosion, only felt coolness with no unusual sensation.
Having tried once, he felt braver.
This time, Luo Yang submerged his entire finger into the water, which felt cool and moist. Pulling out his index finger, he waited a bit and everything was completely normal, making him relax his vigilance somewhat.
"Can these small fish be raised? I should catch a couple and try raising them."
There were many small fish in the creek, and Luo Yang reached into the water. With a gentle scoop of his palm, he caught 3 small fish, not knowing their species. Then, he suddenly faced a dilemma.
"Can I take them out with me?"
As he pondered, he exited the landscape painting. Luo Yang was lying on his bed, but in the landscape painting, he had been squatting. Back in reality, he was still cupping his hands, but because he was lying down, the 3 small fish slid from his palms onto his body.
Luo Yang was startled and quickly sat up, seeing the three lively jumping fish, he remembered there was an abandoned large water tank in the backyard, which usually sat empty. It used to house a small turtle he played with, but now the turtle was gone, and the tank was vacant.
He got out of bed and tiptoed to the backyard, where he placed the three small fish into the water tank and then put the matter aside.
By then, it was already past two in the morning, and he had school the next day, so Luo Yang went to bed, turned off the light, and slept.
The next morning, while washing his face and brushing his teeth, he suddenly noticed that his palms were white and smooth like jade, significantly moister and fairer than the skin on his arms. Luo Yang was very curious. At first, he thought he might be sick, but he didn't feel uncomfortable.
Staring at his hands which seemed not his own, he thought back and forth and remembered the previous night he had scooped up creek water in the landscape painting.
"Could the creek water have beautifying properties?"
Although he couldn't be sure, he felt somewhat confident and was both shocked and pleased. Although he wanted to enter the landscape painting again to confirm, he had to go to school and had to put it off. He thought if the creek water really had beautifying effects, selling it could be vastly more successful than any French Lancôme, Chanel, or American Estée Lauder!